Information literacy instruction helps students’ academic achievement (Smalley, 2004; O’Sullivan & Dallas, 2010) and requires collaborative instruction between the librarian and teacher. This study is a follow up of the author’s previous research in order to address the limitations of a small sample and lack of rural population (Crary, 2019). In addition, this study expands on the use of Fullan’s (2007) Change Theory to initiate the change towards collaborative instruction of these skills from the teacher’s perspective. Secondary education (ages 11-18) teachers (N = 404) in North Dakota responded to a survey. Results were analyzed for teachers’ perceptions about collaborative roles between a school librarian and a classroom teacher regarding information literacy skills. The results indicated teachers teaching information literacy alone or collaborating with the librarian are more open to change. Schools need to provide ongoing professional development on information literacy and collaboration.

In this article, we examine how demographic changes in Fargo and West Fargo, North Dakota between 2000 and 2017, including the resettlement of refugees, have impacted equitable educational arrangements in Fargo Public Schools (FPS) and West Fargo Public Schools (WFPS). Drawing on multiple data sources, including North Dakota’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI), Common Core of Data (CCD) available from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) and block group data from the U.S. Census Bureau, we use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to examine city and district level changes in the years 2000 and 2017. We also conduct descriptive statistics and a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to assess the relationships among Black student enrollment, performance on state tests and enrollment characteristics that include race and free and reduced lunch. Findings underscore the increasing isolation of students over time by race, socioeconomic background and language.

This chapter provides in-depth discussion of concepts and principles related to the development of cultural competence in school districts located in rural areas and smaller cities that have and are becoming racially, linguistically, and culturally diverse. The authors offer practical steps that help support the development of cultural competence among pre-service teachers, educators, and administrators. This framework can be implemented to create district-level professional development courses that can be used to renew teacher licenses. Additionally, suggestions of how to best address the discipline among culturally diverse students, and how to build authentic relationships with students, parents and the community are also discussed.

This chapter explores educational leadership graduate programs and the complex process of preparing the next generation of principals and building administrators. The authors emphasize the role of self-directed learning in educational leadership graduate programs, as pre-service principals will ultimately encounter problems of practice in school settings that challenge them to seek, analyze, and utilize information effectively and the skills necessary for making informed decisions and applying theory to practice. This chapter explores the ways in which some educational leadership graduate programs shaped their programs as settings that foster scholar-practitioners through the integration of new standards and frameworks that encourage the development of practice-related research skills. Also, the authors examine problems of practice and the ways educational leadership programs prepare pre-service principals to grapple with these complex issues. Lastly, a problem of practice project is outlined for use in the classroom.